Saturday, August 22, 2026 -The New York Times has been ordered to pay $9.25 million in damages after a federal jury ruled that the publication defamed former college basketball player Kai Spears by falsely linking him to a fatal 2023 shooting.
Following a nine-day trial in the US District Court for the
Northern District of Alabama, an eight-person jury found in favor of Spears,
who was an 18-year-old freshman walk-on at the University of Alabama when the
report was published.
The lawsuit centered on a March 2023 article written by
reporter Billy Witz, which incorrectly identified Spears as a passenger in a
vehicle present at the scene of the January 2023 shooting that resulted in the
death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris.
The publication noted that it had not lost a defamation suit
in the United States in over 50 years. A spokesperson for the newspaper
expressed disappointment with the decision, maintaining that the report was an
honest mistake and stating that the organization is reviewing its legal
options. Meanwhile, legal counsel for Spears stated that the verdict stands as
a victory for accountability in reporting.
The newspaper did not issue a correction until June 2023,
after Spears filed his lawsuit, eventually clarifying that the individual
present at the scene was student manager Cooper Lee rather than Spears.
Spears previously addressed the impact of the false report,
noting that he was nowhere near the scene and subsequently faced severe public
harassment and online threats due to the inaccurate coverage.
After initially filing the lawsuit back in 2023, Spears said:
'I was not anywhere near the scene or vicinity at the time that took place. I
don't think it is a mistaken identity. I just think they didn't do their due
diligence.
'I had multiple threats from like Twitter and Instagram,
people telling me to kill myself, people telling me I'm a murderer, we're a
team full of murderers. And they're just kind of putting this false narrative
out… I mean, I did nothing wrong.'
Spears had also put a statement out on Twitter saying: 'The
report in the New York Times was 100 percent inaccurate and the writer had
complete disregard for the truth.
'I am
trying to process and cope with these false statements that somehow have been
published and seen by so many. SO thankful to Alabama Athletics for refuting it
on my behalf.
'More than
anything... I remain completely heartbroken by the tragic death that occurred
that night.'
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